Xenophobic violence in South Africa fuels World Cup backlash across continent
Anti-migrant violence in South Africa has led to some citizens of other African countries using the World Cup to show their displeasure with the development in ‘The Rainbow Nation’.
Months-long violent protests against foreign nationals accused of taking jobs from locals in South Africa have specifically targeted migrants from other African nations, leaving at least two dead and hundreds fleeing for their lives.
On Thursday, when South Africa opened the World Cup against co-host Mexico in Mexico City, they found little solidarity from fellow Africans, many of whom loudly rooted for Mexico at the stadium and through hundreds of posts online.
A post by Gambian football site Gamfoot Transfers showed a video of a group of football fans, identifying themselves as Nigerians, donning ‘El Tri’ kits outside Mexico City Stadium, where Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0.
“We are Mexicans today!” one member of the group in the video said.
The post was captioned, “Today many Africans are supporting Mexico, not necessarily because they have a special connection with Mexico, but because of the frustration and anger over how some African brothers and sisters have been treated in South Africa.”
Other videos taken inside the stadium showed Congolese fans backing the North Americans against their regional rivals with chants of “Congo hermano, ya eres mexicano” (Congo brother, you are already Mexican) and “Viva Mexico!” while waving Mexican flags.
There were also jokes about combining African and Hispanic names and other videos trolling South Africa.
Two Mozambicans, aged 27 and 43, recently became the first foreigners known to have been killed in the campaign against undocumented African migrants that has seen protests across South Africa and a torrent of online xenophobic hate.
Tensions soared after a citizen-led anti-immigration group opposed to irregular migration recently ordered all undocumented foreign nationals to leave by June 30.
In response to the group’s action, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly said, “Only authorised government officials can act against violations of our law.”
However, he’s also reported as saying South African’s concerns “deserve to be heard, and they deserve to be addressed.”
Governments from other African nations are not taking the situation seriously.
Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi and Nigeria have already repatriated hundreds of their citizens.
Additional reporting by AFP
